Golden Silkworm Marriage

"Lord Wu!"

Song Chengan followed Advisor Song through the main hall and into a side room.

Inside were Captain Wu and a man who looked like a doctor.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Doctor Hu!"

"Advisor Song, please see Doctor Hu out!"

"Song Chengan, you're here just in time."

"Take a look at this person."

Song Chengan looked up.

On the bed lay a patient in the final stages of illness.

But he was different from an ordinary patient.

His eyes were tightly shut, his expression serene, with no trace of pain on his face.

Yet, he looked as though he could die at any moment, completely depleted.

Song Chengan walked over and examined him carefully.

"There are no wounds, and though he's dying, there's no sign of pain."

"This is... the Golden Silkworm Marriage!"

Song Chengan was horrified.

"That's right."

"I didn't expect you to know about this."

"It's the work of those people from the Southern Border Gu Tribe."

In the past, elders in his family often warned him not to pick up large sums of money wrapped in red cloth on the ground, as doing so would incur the disaster of the person who lost the money.

It was the Golden Silkworm Marriage.

And Song Chengan had read about this secret technique, the Golden Silkworm Life-Borrowing Technique, in a miscellaneous record by a Yu family Monster Hunter.

There was a type of Gu worm in the southern border, golden in color and highly poisonous.

It carried an evil aura. By placing it among gold and silver, it could defile the precious metals. Then, the owner would discard the gold and silver on the street. If an ignorant person picked it up, they would be contaminated by the evil aura on the gold and silver.

At this point, the Golden Silkworm's master could use a secret method to borrow life or transfer disaster.

There were similar techniques in sorcery.

It originally originated from ancient witchcraft but had been lost.

It was said that the Gu tribe's Golden Silkworm Marriage was derived from ancient witchcraft.

"This person was originally a loafer on the street, but somehow he became wealthy recently."

"Living a life of debauchery."

"And then, a few theft cases happened in Lingqiu County recently. The yamen suspected him and sent people to apprehend him."

"But when the yamen arrived at his house, this person had already become like this."

"The doctor the yamen called said the man had no illness, he was just dying. The yamen found it strange and sent him here."

Captain Wu explained.

Song Chengan listened and looked at the person lying on the bed.

The man's eyes were tightly shut, as if he were sleeping, but judging by his appearance, he probably didn't have many days left.

"So, is this person going to die?"

Captain Wu laughed heartily at his words: "For ordinary people, the Golden Silkworm Marriage is naturally a deadly evil art."

"Even for ordinary Qi Refiners, it's extremely troublesome. But for those who have cultivated special True Qi, it's nothing more than a trivial trick."

Song Chengan's heart stirred: "What does Lord Wu mean?"

Captain Wu nodded: "Exactly, the Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi you cultivate."

"Although it's only a low-grade True Qi, it's one of the seventy-two orthodox True Qi of the Daoist sect, specifically designed to counter ghosts and demons."

"With you here, he naturally won't die."

Song Chengan didn't expect this person to be so lucky. He asked, "Lord Wu, how can I save him?"

"Inject your True Qi into him and help him expel the Gu worm's evil energy."

"I'll guard you outside."

"Alright."

After all, it was a human life. Song Chengan didn't hesitate.

He circulated the True Qi within his body and slowly injected it into the person on the bed.

Just as Captain Wu had said, as soon as his True Qi entered, the Gu worm's evil energy within the man began to scatter everywhere.

Song Chengan knew he had the advantage as soon as he saw the evil energy recoil from his True Qi.

He calmed himself and focused his True Qi, hunting down the Golden Silkworm evil energy within the body.

"Lord Wu, it's done!"

Song Chengan stood up.

He felt utterly exhausted.

The Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi he cultivated could easily expel the True Qi from a person's body, but unfortunately, this Golden Silkworm evil energy was too cunning, darting around everywhere.

This had taken a significant toll on Song Chengan's mind.

Song Chengan said, "This person is fine now. They need to rest well, and they'll recover their vitality in a few years."

"You should sit down and rest first."

"This person is lucky to be alive. Meeting you, the sole successor of Peach Blossom Temple. If it weren't for you, they would likely have been left to die."

"I'll have Advisor Song handle the paperwork for joining the Demon Suppression Division for you. Go home and rest today, and start pursuing this person tomorrow."

"We absolutely cannot let this person continue to harm others."

"As you command, Lord Wu!"

Song Chengan cupped his fists.

He hadn't expected to be entrusted with such an important task on his very first day.

However, dealing with this kind of threat was indeed his specialty.

This was an incredibly dim room.

The window was covered with rags, and the only light came from a burning red candle.

Inside, there was a table, and scattered across the table and the floor were countless bronze lamps.

In the center of the room was a small stove, with a tiny bronze pot on top.

A hunched figure was grinding something.

It seemed like herbs.

It wasn't herbs.

It was countless strange insects.

It was a thoroughly disgusting sight.

The strange person crushed the insects and then carefully placed them into the bronze pot.

Then, they controlled the heat of the stove.

Once the insects had rendered their oil, the oil was carefully poured into one of the bronze lamps.

Throughout this process, the strange person continuously chanted something in an incomprehensible rhythm, like a song.

It sounded like the language of the Southern Border Gu Tribe.

Bang!

The door was pushed open.

A scrawny child ran in.

"Wu Gou'er, how many times have I told you not to barge into my room?"

The strange person's voice was hoarse.

"Grandpa Balu, Sister Huang Xian is dead."

Balu paused his grinding of the Gu worms, then continued grinding them.

"Everyone dies."

Balu's movements didn't stop.

"No, no."

"They're all dead."

"Sister Huang Xian and her whole family are dead."

Balu remained unmoved.

Tears welled up in Wu Gou'er's eyes.

"There was something wrong with the silver you gave me!"

"I heard them all say not to pick up the silver on the street, that everyone who picked it up died."

Balu chuckled.

His laughter was hoarse and unpleasant.

He said with ill intent, "It seems you secretly gave some of that silver to that little girl."

"You're the one who harmed them!"

Wu Gou'er's face instantly turned pale. "No, no, it wasn't me, it wasn't me."

The young child's eyes were filled with guilt.

He had only seen his sister Huang Xian so sick she was dying, so he had secretly given her some silver.

He hadn't expected this to happen.

He hadn't expected it.

"It was you!"

Guilt turned into hatred.

"Sister Huang Xian is so kind, why would you harm her?"

Balu shook his head. "I didn't harm her, it was you."

"I just told you to throw the silver on the street."

"But you secretly gave it to your Sister Huang Xian," he said with a wicked grin.

Wu Gou'er's voice cracked with sobs. "You said you didn't have much time left to live and wanted to give away your money to accumulate merit..."

Balu scoffed. "I couldn't even be bothered to save your parents, why would I do such a good deed?"

"Silly child."